Michiel Paalvast

Playing with the imagination is asksing what the nature of reality is. Does what we see exist only in our imaginations? Or is it separate from us? And if so, is that the same as what we see? It seems that Paalvast has opted for the eastern vision. The Tao, for example, sees reality as an indivisible fact, in which two opposing values ​​- yin and yang - are constantly in motion. Not as fixed opposites like good and evil, but only in a mutual relationship. Seen in this way, observer and reality coincide, just like observer and image and reality and image, without being the same. Reality forms the perception and that forms the image. And the image forms the perception and that forms the reality. Just as the observer is constantly changing. That is the work of Michiel Paalvast. Paint as you relate to a reality in motion. But the pleasure and challenge of painting itself is always present. With the visible reality from his own environment as the starting point, Paalvast creates compositions that also bring painting to life and which evoke both awe and a cheerful feeling through an unmistakable vibrancy. Michiel Paalvast celebrates life with form and color.

Willem de Kooning Art academie Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Graduated in 2000